Summer Roasted Vegetables

• Preheat the oven to 375 F.
• Cut the carrots into two or three lengths, approximately 2.5-3 inches long. With each piece, halve it lengthways and then, depending on the fatness of the piece, cut each half into 2-4 pieces – if the carrot piece was originally an inch in diameter or fatter then err on the side of cutting into more, rather than fewer, pieces.
• Prepare the parsnips by first cutting off the narrow “tail” into a piece that is about 2-3 inches long (up to where the diameter gets to about ¾ inch). Cut this tail piece into quarters down its length. Cut the remaining fatter top part of the parsnip as for the carrots.
• Place the shallots into a bowl and pour over boiling water until the shallots are completely covered. Leave to stand for a couple of minutes and then chop the top off each shallot, peeling away the skin (the hot water loosens this old dry skin, making it easier to remove) and cutting the roots off the bottom.
• The bell peppers need to be in much bigger chunks as they would otherwise disintegrate. Halve the peppers, remove the stalk and seeds, and then cut each half into three of four strips before halving the length of these, leaving big pieces that are about an inch in length and width.
• If the courgettes are particularly narrow (diameter of ¾ inch or smaller) simply cut into inch-wide slices. If they are fatter courgettes, halve lengthways before cutting into inch-wide pieces.
• For the garlic, simply peel each clove. An easy way to do this is to place the clove on a chopping board, gently crush it under the flat blade of a wide knife (just enough to cause it to change shape slightly) and then cut the bottom “root” end off the clove, giving you a place to pull the skin away from the clove.
• Once all the vegetables are prepared, place into a large baking dish (or two baking dishes if they are more than two veg-pieces deep in the dish) and sprinkle over the parsley and oregano.
• Vigorously massage the rosemary sprigs in your hands to bruise them and start to release the oils and then add to the baking dish.
• Finally, drizzle over the olive oil (if you are using two baking dishes, you’ll need six tablespoons rather than four) and mix everything together with your hands to ensure the vegetables are well coated.
• Cover the dish (with foil or a lid if you have one) and roast in the oven for 30 minutes.
• Remove the foil/lid and return to the oven for a further 30 minutes until the carrots are soft enough. If you have the time, toss the vegetables every so often to get them more evenly browned (I usually don’t bother with this, but it tends to mean my vegetables are very dark on one side and completely un-browned on the other).
• Remove the rosemary sprigs before serving.

Written by:
Just Paleo